Monday, May 1, 2017

My first dinner party

I guess I'm finally settled in, and this evening I had my first game night/dinner party. Granted, it was just three of us, and it was pretty impromptu, but still!

May 1st is Worker's Day in Nigeria, and it's a national holiday. We had the day off from school, so last Friday I invited one of my classmates over for dinner and games today.

Last week I played a fun new game with the missionary couple across the street. I enjoyed it so much that I bought a copy for my parents to bring when they come over. It's hard to find strategy games that don't take too much explaining, can be played with as few as two people, and where experienced players don't have a crazy huge advantage. Seriously, you should check out "Stone Age." I mean, a game that has little wooden people shapes, the resources are shaped like the actual objects, there's a "baby hut," and your workers' diligence can be determined by the roll of a die... what's not to like! (Mom and Dad, you've been forewarned that we're going to play a lot of this game when you come visit!)

Since today was a holiday, when Lami came to shop and cook for me like she always does on Mondays, I went to the market with her. We decided to take public transport instead of walking all the way to the market, and since kekes (tricycle taxi vehicles) aren't allowed near the main market, we took a taxi--more like a private car that the driver decides to use as a taxi. We crammed four adults in the back seat for the 1.5km ride, but it was only N70 each ($0.17).

We shopped for a coconut, flour, oats, limes, carrots, and potatoes, then walked back home. Lami made yummy granola, a curry carrot soup, and chicken pot pie while I tried to catch up on emails. Lami has cooked for many different missionaries over the years so she knows how to cook several Western dishes, as well as a few Korean dishes. She doesn't use recipes, and is what my mother would call a "glug glug cook," but everything turns out really well!

My classmate H* came over in the afternoon and we decided to give Stone Age a go with just two players. Then my neighbor GL joined us for dinner. As we sat around eating, we realized that with GL as an occupational therapist, H* as a speech language pathologist, and me as PT, we had all three therapy disciplines in the same room! None of us are quite doing what we trained in, as we're involved with an orphan girls' home, running a burn clinic, helping churches use the newly-translated Scriptures, managing a housing compound, and treating pelvic dysfunction... but nonetheless, we were all in one room together!

We had a wonderful evening, and I have to say that my first dinner party was a success!